European shares hold near multi-year highs

LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - European shares were flat to slightly higher early on Monday after a firm close on Wall Street in the previous session, although short-term gains looked stretched as major indexes hovered near multi-year highs.

By 0827 GMT, the FTSEurofirt 300 was up 0.1 percent at 1,169.65 points, although the UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX were 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent lower respectively.

"European markets have been surprisingly robust. U.S. markets enjoyed a decent close. We are seeing some very clear signs of bearish divergence but at the end of the day we keep breaking higher and investors keep buying the dips," Gerry Celaya, strategist at Red Tower Research, said.

He said unless we start breaking below 7,600 on Germany's DAX, then the 2007 all-time high of 8,151 looked vulnerable, while a near-term target for FTSE 100 was at 6,400.

"The trend remains higher highs and higher lows and it's one that is difficult to fight," Celaya said.